By Daria Belousova-Petrovskaya: Four candidates will continue participating in the election campaign. Each has crossed the required milestone of 100,000 signatures. Three of the candidates – Nikolai Ulakhovich, Sergei Gaidukevich and Tatiana Korotkevich – as well as representative of the current President’s initiative group Mikhail Orda were present at today’s registration at the Central Election Commission to receive certificates and take part in a draw for air time.
The candidates’ addresses will be broadcast live on Belarus 1 from Belteleradiocompany’s studio on 15, 16, 17 and 18 September. Each of them will be given an opportunity to speak twice for half an hour about themselves, their election programmes and everything they see fit. Radio addresses will be aired on 22, 23, 24 and 25 September.
According to Central Election Commission Chair Lidia Yermoshina, the CEC has accredited 195 international observers, 105 of which being from the CIS Executive Committee. With regard to western observers, about 40 of them are from the OSCE and 9 from the PACE mission that visited the country a few days ago.
The candidates are prohibited from conducting pre-election campaigning in underground railway station and airport facilities, as well as October, Independence, Victory, National Flag, Railway Station and Yakub Kolas Squares. Picketing is forbidden at the buildings of the presidential residence, the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly and closer than 50 meters from the buildings of government bodies, local representative, executive and administrative bodies, diplomatic missions and consular offices, courts, prosecution bodies and the territories of organisations providing national defense and state security.
To conduct presidential election in Belarus, 6,080 district election commissions involving 66,941 people have been formed across the country. The commissions include the representatives of citizens through filing applications (37%); labour collectives (14.4%); public associations (48.6%), including political parties (4.4%).
49 district commissions involving 244 members of diplomatic missions have been formed outside the country.
A total of 6,129 polling stations for presidential elections have been set up in Belarus and abroad, including 272 in health resorts, rest homes, hospitals and other health care organisations. 21 polling stations have been established in military units and 49 abroad.
The largest number of polling stations – 1,070 – has been registered in the Gomel region, followed by Minsk region with 1,032 sites. The Brest and Vitebsk regions account for 939 and 848 polling stations respectively, with 782 stations formed in the Mogilev region, 717 – in Minsk and 692 – in the Grodno region.
The CEC has approved the form and the number of ballot papers. A total of more than 7 million copies will be printed. The text will be in the Belarusian language, with the names of the candidates placed in alphabetical order.
